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Pete Gautchier

Author on Reedsy Prompts since Feb, 2024

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94 Stories

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My Last Twenty-Four Hours of Freedom or Something Else?

Weekly Contest #360

Prompt: Write a story about someone whose time is running out. My Last Twenty-Four Hours of Freedom or Something Else? “You are a worm, a wretched maggot!” These are my words I mouthed quietly to myself twenty fours hour before my wedding day to the supposed love of my life. I was referring to my character. I really had misjudged my betrothed. I was a royal mess. Having a bachelor’s party 48 hours earlier watered my discontent about my nuptial intentions. I deliberately imbibed as many pints as I could without retching. I did not antic...

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Thank You for Your Story Submission But...

Weekly Contest #359

Prompt: Your character is waiting or yearning for someone or something. Thank You for Your Story Submission But… “It was the worst of times. It was the best of times.” “You plagiaristic fool! I can’t use that! Dickens would roll over in his grave.” There have been many starts and restarts. Hours have turned into days. Weeks have melded into months. Seasons have come and gone marking the year. Even so I continue to sit at my writing desk mesmerized by an empty computer screen. I try to commend, to cajole and even to chide myself into...

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Illegitimate, But Loved Nonetheless

Weekly Contest #358

Prompt: Write a story about a victory that no one else will ever know about…but that has changed everything.Illegitimate, But Loved Nonetheless It was decades later when I learned that my DNA was not found in an ancestral registry. I thought it would be a good thing to know my genealogical heritage for the sake of my family to come. When I learned that the mail order DNA registry had no matches for me, I became deeply despondent. I confronted my parents about my birth. My one and only family had raised me since I was a young baby. The...

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I Can Do This

Weekly Contest #358

Prompt: Write a story about someone who shouldn’t have made it out…but did. I Can Do This I am an embedded news reporter for the Military Times giving a firsthand personal account of the early days of fighting experienced by Private First-Class H. T. Shirker. Private Shirker covered his face with his hands. All around him he heard the loud noise of grenades and gunfire. He was terrified as he crouched in the dirt. He was alone out in the open field. His comrades were out of sight hiding in the shallow trenched dirt. There was literally n...

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Woof Woof is Not What I am Saying

Weekly Contest #357

Prompt: Write a story from the POV (point of view) of a pet or a loyal companion. Woof Woof is Not What I am Saying A beautiful, heartwarming sight to see. A boy and his dog walking together side by side on the tree-lined boulevard. The dog stops, looking up to the boy and he speaks in English with a slight British accent, “I have to pee. Please take me to the nearest tree.” The boy readily complies by barking “woof, woof, bow wow.” This is just another typical conversation between a boy and a dog. Or is it? I can almost see the look on your...

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Forlorn with Flowers and Forgiveness

Weekly Contest #356

Prompt: Write a story about a character finding something unexpected in the snow, grass, or water.Secondary prompts: Start of end your story with a sensory detail (something that evokes scent, texture, taste, sight, and/or sound). Write the story about the aftermath of someone’s sacrifice. Forlorn with Flowers and Forgiveness The arid breeze was making breathing difficult for Mary Magdeline or Mae as her late father called her. Her nostrils flared at the scent of the earth, dust and metallic odors coming from the rocks and sand of the d...

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Dying to Play Ball

Weekly Contest #355

Prompt: Include a wake or funeral in your story where the mourners have conflicting feelings about the deceased.Dying to Play Ball Wheels are screeching and there is a slopping sound of a mop on the floor. The smell of disinfectant and alcohol permeate the air. “So, how are you feeling today’ Mr. Highhope?” “Still breathing Mr. Clean. Mind if you mop over by the garbage can? My aim ain’t so good these days. Good thing I ain’t the starting pitcher for today’s game.” “Don’t worry about your mess. I have it all under control. I’ll turn on...

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When One Equals Zero

Weekly Contest #354

Prompt: Write about someone who is grappling with loneliness. When One Equals Zero The music and words in my head were so loud it was disrupting my thoughts. “One is the loneliest number you could ever do…” was incessantly chirping away in my brain. I could not get it to stop no matter what I did to distract myself. Then the refrain started in…” One is the loneliest number” over and over again. I clenched my head with my hands. I plugged my ears, but the music was piercing my eardrums. The words would just not stop!I mouthed “Please God,...

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Ancient, Mighty and Eternal

Weekly Contest #353

Prompt: Write a story where the line between myth and reality begins to blur.Prompt: Write a story that connects mythology and science. Ancient, Mighty and Eternal “It’s an agglomerated catastrophe,” said the young geologist as he pounded his hammer into the side of the mountain. His equally young comrade John (and presiding archaeologist) was nodding in agreement. “John, I can hammer night and day for the next twenty years and I likely will make no more headway than what I have done in the past hour. I think it is time to reassess our pla...

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Roy-A Palette of Color

Weekly Contest #352

Prompt: Write a story in which a character can taste, smell, hear, and/or feel color. Roy-A Palette of Color Hello citizens, of this magnificent world! My name is Roy G. Biv. I have come to save you from the gloominess and unhappiness that cloud your everyday lives. You have fallen victim to the bleak, drab, ashen villains of daily living. I will create smiles across your pallid faces. For those of you unfamiliar with me, I am a superhero of epic proportions. I paint the skies with rainbows of vividness and brilliance of color. Look ...

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Last Words

Weekly Contest #347

Prompt: A character breaks a rule they swore they’d never break. What happens next? Last Words I was not in the greatest frame of mind that day when I lashed out at my mom shortly after she had reprimanded me. In my opinion, it should not have been a big deal when I offered my rebuttal at her accusatory words. Nevertheless, it was a costly error. I found myself without my phone, my TV, and most importantly, my weekly allowance for a month. Her chastising words were, “Your tongue is not an asset. One of these days your words will be you...

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Wormhole

Weekly Contest #346

Prompt: write about someone who has or is given the ability to teleport or time-travel. Wormhole “Timothy Edward and Peter Michael,” our Mama yelled from the kitchen. We knew when she added our middle names we were both about to get a verbal tongue lashing or the ominous threat of “wait ‘til your father gets home.” We were stunned when she said, “Boys, you need to go outside and breathe the fresh autumn air. The fall school term will soon start and you’ll be climbing the walls to get outside. Put your video controllers down and go get yours...

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Main Course

Weekly Contest #345

Prompt: Write about someone who must fit their whole life in one suitcase. Main Course My mind drifted as I heard ba dum, ba dum , ba dum, ba dum the sounds of drums beating in the distance. It gets louder as I scramble to pack my suitcase. The Ratu (chief) is at my hut. “You must leave the island now. The Shaman wants your head. You will be boiled in oil if he catches you. Take your God and your magic water with you. The women are crying out because of the deaths of their babies. The Shaman wants to avenge their deaths because he says your ...

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Not a Typical Day at the Funeral Home

Weekly Contest #345

Prompt: Write a story which something doesn’t go according to plan. Not A Typical Day at the Funeral Home Ahh achoo! Ahh achoo! Achoo! The echoing sounds reverberated through the room. My head swiveled nearly one hundred eighty-degree as I heard a crashing sound. The casket turned on its side crashing to the floor emptying its contents. Mourners fled in one of two directions: either to the coffin or directly out the main door. I guess I was the only one who rushed forward to the lifeless body now seemingly alive. “Holy crap! The corpse had...

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One Life So Others May Live

Weekly Contest #344

Prompt: Write a story that includes the words “déjà vu” or “that didn’t happen.” One Life So Others May Live An obnoxiously loud alarm sounded jarring me from a troubled night of dreams. The ringing only lasted a few seconds but the blood curdling screams from my dreams continued to reverberate in my head long afterwards. Despite the horror resonating in my mind, I pulled myself up off the steel bed frame heading toward the iron bar gate. Magically it opened on its own as though some distant force was controlling it. I quickly joined the z...

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